A scientist did an experiment using a chemical inhibitor that stops photosynthesis for a certain type of plant. He grew two plants, giving the chemical to one plant and not to the other. Both plants were given equal amounts of water and sunlight. He then measured the growth of both plants as shown in the table below.

Question

Date Height of
Control Plant
(cm) Height of Plant
Treated With
Chemical Inhibitor
(cm)
June 5 8.3 8.6
June 7 8.7 8.7
June 9 9.2 8.7
June 11 9.6 8.7

Why did the plant that could not photosynthesize stop growing?
A.
It did not have enough other plants to consume for food.
B.
It did not have enough water to grow.
C.
It did not have enough food for building materials.
D.
It did not have enough light to grow.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C. It did not have enough food for building materials.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy in the form of glucose (sugar), which is used as food. The plant treated with the chemical inhibitor could not perform photosynthesis, leading to a lack of glucose and, therefore, insufficient energy and building materials needed for growth. The other options do not accurately address the reason for the plant's halted growth in this scenario.